swmand4

More progress to show off tonight! Get ready for a photo heavy post... I finally got my low-profile socket cap scews in last week. They look cool, fit better, and are black oxide coated so I don't have to paint them. I think I mentioned before, but I don't trust the screw to do all the work in holding the scope and counter together. So I drilled the holes a touch larger than the screws and glued everything with Loctite super glue. Here's the scope and rail: And the Hengstler counter box: What the underside looks like. This is after I filled the Swiss cheese holes, sanded the filler down, repainted, and glued the parts together: When attaching the rail, I applied some glue to the front where the tab enters the barrel. After that, I touched up the paint in spots where I glued the rail down. Here's what it looked like at this point. Note that the bolt, spring, end cap, and charging handle are not attached and simply held in place by friction. Close up of the bolt, etc. Other side of the blaster. Here I've attached the wires. BEFORE attaching the scope rail, I drilled out the holes in the counter box and the back of the power cylinders using a 1/16" drill bit. The wires I used are some 22AWG stranded black wires, five wraps around a pencil. I like the look of smaller, shorter wires. There's enough there that it's a little messy but not too messy. Close up of the counter box, power cylinders, and wires. A front view of the blaster. Sorry for the washed out look. My camera phone isn't very good, apparently. Another view: I had to put the inner barrel in before attaching the scope rail, since the rail has a tab that would prevent putting it in later. You can kind of see here what it looks like. Since these pictures were taken, I've started weathering the blaster. I'm also working on a piece I can insert into the trench and glue to my bolt to make it look like the it has the correct diameter and the helical swirl. Once that is done, I'll glue the charging handle to the bolt, insert the spring, and glue on the end cap.

That's what I was thinking of doing. Makes the bolt look like it has the correct diameter and puts the charging handle at the right depth.

I added an inner barrel to my build. It looks good through the venting holes and gives the bolt something to rest against so the charging handle doesn't have to do all the work.

Thanks for all the paint tips! I've decided to start with satin black and take it from there. The test I did with the Hammered black didn't look too promising, so there's a good chance I will not use it. I did a test with a screw to see if I could make a moving bolt. It kind of works, but the spring is much too stiff. You'd probably end up breaking the charging handle when you pulled it back. Sorry, Aosen. Over the last week or so, I've been slowly spray painting this thing. I discovered I purchased white primer instead of gray, so I went out and got the gray. Here it is with primer: And here it is with satin black (I'll have better pictures when it's finished): I also did a little work on the scope rail and t-bracket after-hours at my office. The pre-drilled holes were not where I wanted them, so I had to make my own. Unfortunately, I forgot the saying "measure twice, cut once". Now the rail looks like Swiss cheese: I drilled the holes in the scope and counter at the same time. I'll be using a #10-32 low-profile socket cap screw. Instead of a risking a crack in the resin, I'm just going to glue the bolt into the hole and the feet of the scope to the rail. It'll be permanent, but I'll trust it a lot more than just a screw. Same thing with attaching the rail to the barrel.

Looking good, keep it up! I'm a little jealous, as mine looks like it was put together by an amateur (which it was). I especially like the holes drilled into the folding stock. I've seen it done before, but decided not to do it on mine.

Got another question/idea for you guys. I'm trying to decide how to attach the scope and counter box to the rail. I like Darth Aloha's method of threaded inserts, but will have to use a slightly different product. McMaster-Carr has some press-fit threaded inserts (product number 92394A515, 10-32 size, 3/8" length) that I'm considering. The only problem I see with those is they expand or dig into the walls of the hole when a screw is put into them and I'm afraid it will crack the resin. I suppose I could just try it and buy a new scope from Doopydoo's if it breaks... Press Fit Inserts (92394A515): As for the screws themselves, I'm going with a Low Profile Socket Cap Screw (product number 92220a172, 10-32 size, 3/8" length, 0.098" head depth). If I remember correctly, the original screws for an M38 scope were slotted. However, they only slotted machine screws I could find in the correct style had really big heads. Low Profile Socket Cap (92220A172): I think I'm ready to start painting my E-11! I've decided to go with Rust-oleum Hammered Black and a matte clear coat. The inner barrel and bolt will be metallic Nickel. It's the closest I could find to gunmetal, so it'll have to do. There will, of course, be a primer coat, too. I'll be doing some testing on scrap PVC pipe get a feel for the spray paint and to make sure the colors are acceptable. Here's the paint I'll be using: I know some people say that the T-tracks and some other parts should be satin black and not Hammered black, since the originals were plastic. Is it worth it to paint those parts satin black and tape them up for the Hammered black coat? I'm thinking not, but it depends on how textured Hammered black is... Thoughts?

The spring actually fits in the barrel nicely. I think the outer diameter is ~0.75 inches while the barrel is ~0.81 inches. It definitely falls out if I tilt the gun backwards, and doesn't rattle around when put inside. I don't know how well it would work for a functional bolt since it's fairly stiff, but it could be worth a try. If you have an Orchard Supply Hardware store near you, I think they're only about $2.50. Look for a #52U spring. Here's a picture of it in the barrel, if it helps:

I've decided to trim the charging handle as shown in my picture. If chookaboom did it, I feel comfortable moving ahead. I plan to glue it in place in the trench, making it non-moveable. However, the more I stared at it, the more I think the charging handle needs to be attached to something. Looking at dm101's build thread, I think I can make a bolt. I was at Orchard Supply and figured, "why not add a barrel while I'm at it?" Aosen's thread makes it look pretty easy. Here's what I ended up with. I used 1/2" copper pipe for the inner barrel and 1/2" PVC pipe for the bolt. They have different outer diameters, so one looks larger than the other. As mentioned before, the spring is a #52U compression spring from Orchard Supply Hardware. I stretched it out a bit. I cut the copper pipe to a length of 8.5", and the bolt to a length of 3.75". Once inside the barrel, they will be pushed up against each other by way of the spring behind the bolt. Incidentally, this solves by problem of how to fix the spring in place. I guessed on how much of the bolt should show in the trench when the charging handle is fully forward. From dm101's borrowed deactivated Sterling, it looks like almost to the end of the grip. I eye-balled a cut mark on my PVC pipe, through the barrel trench. I attempted to copy Aosen and drill out the PVC pipe to use as the end thingys that hold the inner barrel in place, but my work didn't have a 5/8" drill bit. The flat bit with the point in the middle that was available just destroyed the section of PVC pipe. So I grabbed some electrical tape and wrapped it around the ends of the copper pipe until I got a tight fit in the barrel, but not so tight I couldn't slide it down to the muzzle. 16.5 wraps/turns worked for me. The whole assembly will be painted silver or gunmetal. Or maybe I should paint the copper pipe and re-apply the black electrical tape afterwards? It might not be visible in a black barrel... When deciding how long to make the inner barrel, I noticed that it will have to extend beyond the scope rail tab to look right. If it stopped in front of the tab, you would see the tape and the end of the copper pipe. So I extended it beyond the scope rail tab and drilled a 3/8" hole in the same spot as the one in the outer barrel. Now the tab has somewhere to go. This was probably really stupid of me, but I put the copper pipe and tape assembly in the E-11 barrel, pushed it into position, and used the hole in the resin to line up a drill press. If it had bucked or slipped, I'd be needing some Bondo filler. As for the bolt, I plan to seal up the back where the spring will contact it. Beyond that, I don't know what a real one should look like. I guess I'll just paint it silver or gunmetal or something? At the same time as this, I cut a screwdriver tip for the sights. And cut it again to make it shorter. And cut it again to make it close to the right length. Trial and error... Also sanded down the Green Stuff that is filling the folding stock seam, and glued the stand together.

No problem Glen, I think I've got it figured out. Just wanted to see if anyone here had done something similar. Attached the folding stock. Went with doing it all at once. Had to use whatever I had laying around to support the clamps. Can't have gravity pulling them out of place! I will fill in the join between the two halves tomorrow night.

Got a question: What do people do about the charging handle? It won't sit in the trench correctly, since the barrel is much thicker than an actual Sterling... I'm thinking of shaving off some of the round part to make it fit (outside the red line in the below picture) and then gluing in/to the end of the trench. I think creating a working bolt is too difficult for me right now, so glued in place will have to do.

Micheal - It's a Doopydoo's Collectibles "STORMTROOPER E-11 COMPLETE ANH E-11 BLASTER KIT". They offer three different versions; ANH complete, ANH pipe build (you make the barrel), and Hasbro conversion. I don't know if linking to an external shop site is against forum rules, but you'll find it easily if you Google "doopydoos". When you start yours, make sure you reference some of the other E-11 build threads here as well. Everyone does things a bit differently, and some people do extensive (and awesome) mods! I think I've decided to glue the two halves of the folding stock to the barrel at the same time. That way, they glue to the barrel better while still aligning correctly. I still have some time to think about it, so this may change as I play around with the parts. Massive progress update time! I attached the magazine receiver to the barrel. I tried to center it on the horizontal t-track, which looks good and allows perfect clearance for the folding stock. While dry-fitting the magazine receiver and choosing rubber band sizes and drying options, I dropped the part and it chipped a corner Only fell from about one foot up... just a grim reminder of how fragile this thing is. Also attached the bayonet lug at the same time. Made sure to get the orientation correct. Later in the day (12 hours later), I glued the trigger and trigger guard in place. Used a softer rubber band to lightly hold it in place. Too stiff / too much pressure, and I was afraid it would crack or end up tilted to one side. Day after the trigger went on, I did a little more work on the front sight. Using the sanding trick from MisterFubar's E-11 build thread (wrap sand paper around the barrel), I was able to sand the bottom of the sight and get a better fit. I had originally planned to use the clamps for the sights, but they don't allow you to adjust them if they need to be rotated or moved. So rubber band it is! Rear sights at the same time. I tried my best to align front and rear sights, but who knows just how well I did that... To save some gluing time, I'm doing the power cells as well. They're not in the way of anything, so I might as well. Almost there...

Thanks for the replies! The plan was always to fill and sand last. But is the best first step to attach the "tuning fork" to the barrel (like Aosen), or attach it to the other half of the stock (like Chookaboom)? I would use 5 minute epoxy, but I this is the first thing I've done like this in a long time and wanted the option to fix mistakes. Next time I think I will use epoxy so the build doesn't take two weeks or more. Maybe that will be Han's DL-44 I've been thinking about Speaking of mistakes... after gluing on the grip, it looks like it's rotated around the barrel by an almost imperceptible 1/2 degree angle. You really only notice it if you sight down the top t-track. I don't think it's a large enough issue to warrant detaching the grip and starting over. With any luck, it won't be noticeable once the scope rail and scope are mounted. It's still going to bug me, though :/ Now for some new progress! I glued on the rear stock lock, ejector guard, and flash guard. Used plenty of E6000 this time. Special thanks to dm101 for his build thread - it helped me determine which part was the ejector guard and which was the flash guard. With any luck, I will attach the magazine receiver today...

Now, for some questions! I'm trying to decide if I should glue the two halves of the folding stock together and fill in the cracks,then attach to the barrel, or glue the "tuning fork" to the barrel and then the other half, and then fill in the cracks... anyone with more experience know which way is best? I'm also worried that I'm going too light on the glue. I don't see any seeping out the sides when I press parts together. Maybe I can go around the edges with some super glue (CA glue?) when I'm done, if for no other reason than to get the "welded" look on certain parts...

Just glued the grip to the barrel. I lightly clamped the barrel to the desk to keep it upright. Hopefully, this will keep the grip from moving off center while the E6000 dries: Also attached the hex bolts near the muzzle and the fire rate selector switch. It looks most people have theirs set to automatic, so I'm following suit

I glued some of the easier pieces using E6000. If I'm going to use it for my armor, I might as well get used to using it now! Started with the hex bolt in the grip. The bolt head doesn't sit perfectly flush with the bottom of the grip, but I didn't want to drill too much further and risk having it noticeably recessed. I also glued the magazine release button and magazine to the magazine receiver: I also attached the D-ring and holder to the end cap. Guess I forgot to take a picture of that...

Like a lot of people here, I'm building my Doopydoo's resin E-11 blaster while I wait for my armor to arrive. I'm pulling a little from several of the build threads here, so thanks to everyone who's recently made one! This is the first thing like this I've done in a long time, so I expect to make some mistakes. I'll be keeping my build fairly simple and won't be doing some of the crazy, amazing mods others have done... With that, here's the almost out of the box shot (I did a little touch up work first). The spring I found at Orchard Supply Hardware, I think it's a #52U spring. I already tossed out the package, so I'm not 100% sure. Either way, I had to stretch it out a bit. The scope rail and t-bracket are from Evilboy. It needed a little filing down to get it to sit level on the barrel and one of the guide holes is off center, but it's still much better than I can make Here's some of the touch up stuff I did. Drilled out the hex bolt in the grip. I found that I had to go a bit larger for the grip than the 3/8" bit I used for the bolts around the muzzle: Drilled the 1/8" hole in the end cap: Cut out the sides of the front sight and drilled the hole for the pin thingy. I still need to get a flat-head screw driver bit or something for that: Drilled out the barrel a bit with a 3/8" drill bit. Also made an attempt to drill out the hex bolts around the muzzle. That... didn't go so well. I started with smaller bits and worked my way up to 3/8", but I must have been off a touch so the hole on one side is too far to the outside. Hence, the messed up side that I fixed with some Green Stuff: I also sanded down the magazine release button to ~3/32". Sorry if the pictures from my smartphone are too large. I can try and shrink future pictures if that's the case. More coming soon...

Very nice job! I hope mine turns out half as good as yours... What color paint did you use for the bolt door? It looks like some kind of silver. Is that the same for the silver screws?